E3 2012: NBA 2K13 Wants to Leap Over a Kia Like Blake Griffin

The 2K Sports portfolio may be slimmer than last year with the apparent demise of MLB 2K, but their powerhouse NBA 2K franchise is bigger than ever, and it's about to get its dunk on.

We got a look at NBA 2K13 in a behind-closed-doors demo at E3 today and it appears they haven't missed a beat since the stellar 2K12. Longtime series producer Rob Jones talked of developer Visual Concepts' plans to amp up the fluidity and natural timing of the post-play reactions and celebrations, while he also aims to achieve a "true balance" between offense and defense by allowing the defender to be more physical with the ball-handler.

The biggest new addition, however, is All-Star Weekend. For the first time, the Slam-Dunk Contest, Three-Point Shootout, and the Rising Stars Challenge will be playable modes in NBA 2K, but they'll only be available if you pre-order 2K13 (2K reps feigned ignorance when we asked if it would also be made available as paid, post-release DLC, but we'd bet the farm it'll end up a $5 or $10 download for those who don't plunk down pre-order cash). We saw the dunk contest demoed, and it's basically NBA Guitar Hero. Choose your slam ahead of time from categories like "Teammate Help," and then button prompts stream down a vertical highway. You'll need to push all the buttons on time and in sequence in order to throw down your jam, with around 125-150 different dunks planned for the final game.

Even better? The NBA Legends -- we saw Michael Jordan in our demo -- will be playable in the All-Star Weekend festivities. Oh, and the Visual Concepts team is currently trying to negotiate the rights with automaker Kia to be able to recreate Blake Griffin's car-vaulting dunk in the game. Baller!

Ryan McCaffrey has been covering the Xbox world for 10 years. He used to own a DeLorean, which is weird. Follow him on Twitter, catch him on Podcast Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.